Women’s Hoops Heads to St. Thomas Thursday for MIAC Semifinal Matchup

SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus women’s basketball team continues postseason play Thursday night at St. Thomas in the MIAC semifinals. Tipoff in St. Paul, Minn. is set for 5 p.m. at Schoenecker Arena. The No. 5 seed Gusties enter the game 15-11 overall, while the No. 1 seed Tommies are 24-1.

Since the initiation of the six-team MIAC Tournament in the 2000-01 season, the Gusties have qualified for the conference playoffs every year. Gustavus is making its 19th consecutive appearance in the MIAC Playoffs this season, holding a record of 13-17 in that time. No team in the MIAC has earned a trip to the league playoffs every year except for Gustavus. Road playoff games have been tough on the Gusties as they are 2-16 MIAC postseason games as the visiting team. Gustavus has yet to claim a MIAC playoff title, but it has earned seven trips to the NCAA tournament, including a run to the Sweet 16 last season.

SCOUTING THE GUSTIES

Gustavus won just its second road MIAC playoff game ever on Tuesday night at Saint Ben’s 73-43. The Gusties rank in the MIAC’s top-three in field goal percent (41.7), assists (15.3), steals (12.3), points against (57.3), turnovers (15.2), and personal fouls (15.8). Kendall Thompson leads the offense with 14.3 points per game, while shooting 42.6 percent from the field. Thompson also leads the team with 98 assists, 80 steals, and 5.9 rebounds per game. Justine Lee averages 13.3 points and ranks 13th in Gustavus women’s basketball history with 1,019 career points. Lee has also played in 112 career games and is currently tied for most games played in program history. Paige Richert is the third Gustie to average double figures with 10.3 points per game along with 5.7 rebounds per game.

SCOUTING THE TOMMIES

St. Thomas enters the postseason ranked No. 3 in the nation according to the latest D3hoops.com poll and has won its last 14 games. The Tommies most recently defeated Saint Mary’s 76-55 last Saturday to close out the regular season. St. Thomas leads the MIAC in field goal percentage (50.6), three-point percentage (40.2), assists (16.7), points allowed (49.3), opponents’ field goal percentage (32.4), opponents’ three-point percentage (25.7), and rebound margin (+9.2). Hannah Spaulding leads the team with 17.2 points (1st/MIAC) and 9.2 rebounds per game (3rd/MIAC). She is leading the nation in shooting percentage at 70.9 and has a league-leading 53 blocks. Kaia Porter averages 12.8 points and 5.0 rebounds, and Lucia Renikoff average 12.0 points per game and has made a team-high 57 three-pointers.